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Aoba Terada
Aoba Terada (寺田蒼葉, Terada Aoba "Blue Leaf") is the current Captain of the 4th Division in the Gotei 13 recommended for said position because of his undeniable prowess in the Sacred Arts of Kidō, especially in healing techniques, barriers, binding and protective spells. Aoba is a very cheerful man that always tries to look at the bright side of things, rarely ever seen without a smile on his face. While it is true that he can hold his own in battle, because of his beliefs and convictions the Captain never chooses combat over treating the wounded, resorting to ending lives only as the last option after he had the chance to save as many as possible. Appearance Even despite being over 1300 years old Aoba’s physical appearance is that of a man in his late twenties the most. His above average height and loose clothing gives off the impression of a big strong guy that often towers over others, even if it’s nothing but an optical illusion. His body is indeed muscular and well built but the kind of muscle Aoba trained to acquire is not the type that packs a punch and grants him strength. The slim figure covered in lean polished muscle rather enhances his reflexes, helps with coordination, dodging and overall body control a lot more, as well as grants a big boost to Aoba’s speed because of less body mass and weight. The clothes of the 4th Division Captain are different from the usual appearance of a Gotei officer, most of the pieces carefully handcrafted and rather expensive. Instead of the standard black Shihakushō Aoba wears a variant with a warm gray color without sleeves, rumored to be a lot lighter in weight than the ordinary black variant. Underneath the Shihakushō the Captain’s arms and shoulders are covered in black skin-tight sleeves that reach all the way down to his hands, covering some of his fingers too, serving another purpose as well. Most of his upper body, save for his arms and shoulders is only covered while he wears his Captain’s Haori tied around his waist with a belt. The Haori is also custom made and colored in the same hue of golden-yellow as Aoba’s own Reiatsu. While off duty and in his free time, various decorative elements are present all over his body; mainly accessories and sometimes pieces of light armor. When battle-ready, Aoba sheds most of the unnecessary elements of his clothing and often pulls his arms out of the sleeves of his Haori, leaving it hanging down since it’s secured around his waist. Without a doubt Aoba’s most noticeable and eye catching points are his fox-like features. The long white hair reaching past his lower back and the pair of slightly slanted fox ears that blend in with the hair most of the time, as they are covered in soft fur of the same color. His crimson red eyes have distinctive vertical pupils that are similar to felines and often end up being compared in color to the Sun just before it sets. Aoba does have a long and feathery tail in the same color of white as his hair. Unfortunately there has been far too many cases of people that had asked whether they can touch it or not and ‘thus, out of embarrassment and shame, the male hides it under his clothes majority of the time, choosing not to even let people know he has got one in the first place as a matter of precaution. Aoba was, however, not born with the looks of a fox. The feline features permanently affecting his body are the manifestation of an agreement between him and the spirit of his Zanpakutō; Rokon. During Aoba’s training to attain Bankai several centuries ago Rokon or 'The Fox Spirit' purposely hindered and prohibited any progress with the training whatsoever, refusing to allow the use of it’s Bankai form freely and without any gain. After years and years of failing Aoba had no other choice left but to accept Rokon’s proposal and pay the price if he ever wanted to use Bankai. The feline, fox-like features of the Zanpakutō spirit were transferred onto the Soul Reaper, turning Aoba into his present visual which resembles a fox while granting Rokon a human-like visage. The agreement is definite and absolutely inalterable which means that if Aoba ever chose to revert back to his human form he would lose the ability to manifest his Bankai for good, without a chance to obtain it ever again. Personality From a young age Aoba was always calm, insightful, perceptive, intuitive, showing noticeable maturity for his age and knowledge on how to deal with every situation. These features always allowed him to act swiftly and respond with the most suitable countermeasure to problems that rose. Despite all of that Aoba was still fairly naïve as a child in many real-world scenarios and as such was willing to learn from his peers on how to differentiate situations. He lived at a distance, observing individuals and ideas without getting directly involved so that he could fully understand them. Although this approach prevented him from becoming close with many people it enabled him to think and act without prejudice or preconceptions, instead evaluating things strictly on their own merits. For this reason he never became arrogant about his own abilities however, as he always appears so self-confident people at times think of him as arrogant and condescending even though none of that is true. Aoba doesn’t have a self-righteous loyalty to his family or his few close friends and even though he loves them dearly and wants only the best for them, he knows there are more important things than his personal aspirations and his own needs are always secondary for the greater good of Soul Society. Aoba typically has a relaxed and almost bored attitude not prone to getting too worked up about anything or anyone. He is habitually tardy, showing up when it suits him, using excuses that convince nobody and later leaving for equally poor reasons. Though he wants others to believe this is how he always acts Aoba only does so for matters that aren't of particular importance. In truth he’s a rather solitary and matter-of-fact person, just as apathetic as he was during his youth, often speaking bluntly about sensitive topics and occasionally ignoring his fellow Soul Reapers whenever he passes by them. Aoba is alone for most of his spare time, spending hours on his study of the sacred arts, always thinking about new ways to use and hone his abilities to further benefit Soul Society. Despite his ‘lone wolf’ type of personality Aoba truly believes that goals can be accomplished more effectively together and that’s why he is not shy asking for help when he decides that the current problem requires it. Providing help and aid to others is what he does most of the time as using his abilities for the good of others is where Aoba shines the most. Majority of the time he’s in the back, healing and providing invaluable support to his allies. However, those who think he lacks in offense are severely mistaken. Even if he’s not the type to attack on his own there are time where he can very easily cast aside his normally stoic demeanor which can lead to a side of Aoba one rarely gets to see, one that behaves borderline bloodthirsty. History After his father's death some hundred years ago Aoba became way more stern, aloof and cold towards others. At that time he had no friends so losing the one person close to him had really negative effects on his mentality. To honor his father’s death and fulfill his last wishes he joined the Shin'o Academy and ever since that day embraced the mindset of sacrificing everything to become one of the best Soul Reapers Soul Society has ever seen to make his father, who never managed to become one, proud. Despite his increasingly growing talents and prowess as a Soul Reaper Aoba had shown no signs of arrogance and always remained modest about his abilities, deliberately choosing to hide his potential, showing and using the bare minimum to pass the Academy’s graduation requirements. Despite being a pacifist by nature he trained tirelessly to improve himself as quickly as he could and subjected himself to all of life's inconveniences without complaint for the simple motivation of being useful to others. His commitment can be classified as borderline recklessness due to the many training sessions where he privately used extremely deadly methods as he realized that true potential manifests in situation where your life is in immediate danger. Hundred years later once he believed that his powers are sufficient enough Aoba for the very first time revealed his true strength and qualities which earned him a permanent spot as a high ranking officer within the Kidō Corps where he further honed his powers, learned new techniques and further proved himself as a valuable asset. Being so accomplished as a Soul Reaper enabled Aoba to approach problems less violently than others would have which satisfied his own peace-loving nature but also his higher ups who had shown a certain liking to his calm and quiet way of dealing with certain issues. A few hundred years had passed and Aoba came to realize that he had learned all the Kidó Corps could teach him which eventually made him leave and join the 4th Division where he quickly climbed in ranks due his superior prowess. Within the 4th Division Aoba finally found a way to satisfy his need to help and protect as he had a direct way of healing injured Soul Reapers. Countless times his vast knowledge of Kidó proved crucial within the rehabilitation process of many members of the Gotei 13 and for the first times in centuries he had found a place where he felt home. After the unfortunate events that fell upon the Soul Society and the rest of the world where many members of the Gotei fell in battle Aoba was doing everything he could to save as many of his comrades as his abilities allowed him to, pushing himself so far that he himself sustained considerable injuries during his efforts. When everything finally settled down and most of the Soul Society got back on it’s feet Aoba was asked to become to Captain of the 4th Division. After some encouragement from his fellow division members he accepted the title and from there on worked ten times harder. Under his lead and teachings a big part of the injured Soul Reapers was able to make a full recovery. Most of his time he spent within the barracks and the hospital, however, he felt the pressure of being a Captain and ‘thus spent most of his free time to work on his own abilities to go as an example for others, to fulfill his role as one of the protectors of Soul Society. Powers and Abilities Trivia